Kyuubi's Insanity
by TatraMegami
Summary: In one world Team Seven died in an explosion of the Kyuubi's energy. In another world, young Harry Potter wakes up with whiskers on his cheeks. Hogwarts is due for a very interesting time. AU in many ways.
1. Prologue : Death

A/N: So begins another fic. I'm just warning you now that I'm not an expert on Naruto, but most of this fic will be set within the Harry Potter world, so I hope you bear with me. I really do think this fic shall turn out interesting, so have fun.

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Prologue : Death

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The enemy fighters were everywhere; each time one of them was killed two more took the first one's place. Even Naruto's mass cloning technique wasn't putting a dent in their numbers. More and more soldiers kept coming from the base that Team Seven had just come from. It was beginning to look like a hopeless battle, but the Leaf Ninja were not giving up. They only had to wait a few more minutes and at least the steady inflow of new fighters would stop.

Naruto snarled as he drew on even more of the Kyuubi's chakra; creating hundreds more clones even as he continued to attack the ninja in front of him. There were too many enemies around him to really pay attention to the other Leaf Ninja fighting, but he had a vague sense of where at least his teammates were and an even vaguer sense of where the rest of the strike team was. It was chaos incarnate; therefore Naruto was surprised to find that he could actually see Sasuke instead of just his lightning and fire.

There just happened to be a gap in the numbers as the flow of soldiers slowed down a little and Naruto's clones evened the numbers out a bit. Naruto glanced over at him during the space of killing one fighter and moving onto another. That was when Naruto saw Sasuke go down by one of the more destructive weapons that these fighters used. Most of the guns only sent pulses of electricity, much less deadly than even the basic lightning jutsus that they learned. It was easy to shrug those off, but Naruto knew that there was no way that Sasuke could have shrugged off the holes burned into his body by the new weapons used by the soldiers.

Sasuke was dead. Naruto couldn't help but pause in disbelief and that was when he made the mistake that changed everything. As he paused and something hit him in the back of his head: the energy from one of those deadly guns, the same kind of gun that killed Sasuke, punched through his chest. He stumbled as he tried to twist around, still trying to fight, but multiple shots hit him again. He tried to draw on more of the Kyuubi's chakra, but his vision started to dim and his control slipped. Sasuke's body was the last thing he saw before red chakra overtook his vision.

They hadn't expected to be attacked. Orochimaru was dead and things had mostly settled down again. Things had continued as they had been before the war, though the Chunnin exams would not be held for some time again. There was to be an extra six months before the exams were to be held, but Naruto and the rest of his team had been promoted to Chunnin anyway. The war created extenuating circumstances and the Godaime found a way around the exam.

Life went on and things were peaceful, until the Wraith came out of nowhere. There hadn't been any rumors or murmurs of trouble from the other nations. Relations between the nations had even improved between some nations, though Sound was still on shaky ground with many nations. In fact, there had even been a meeting of most of the nations in order to discuss the upcoming exam. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary.

Then a four member team failed to return on time. Hours later the single surviving member stumbled back into the village, speaking of chakra absorbing fighters. They weren't even Shinobi, though they were skilled enough not to be considered mere bandits. No, these were just to be considered fighters: foot soldiers that seemed inhuman according to the reports. And those reports kept coming in as varying teams were being attacked by these Wraith.

There seemed to be two kind of Wraith: foot soldiers that did most of the attacking and men with long, white hair and pale skin that seemed to lead the groups of soldiers. The most devastating thing wasn't the number of Leaf Nin that had been killed by these men; it was the number of Leaf Nin and other Nin who had disappeared after engaging in battle with the Wraith that got to them. And even though they were able to learn the difference in the Wraith and that they were called the Wraith, no country had been able to learn exactly where these guys came from and where they were stationed now. The best information out there, and that was just rumors from foreigners, was that they came from the inside of a mountain.

It took six months of constant attacks before they truly learned where these fighters were currently coming from. A strike team was formed, Team Seven at the heart of it, and dispatched on what was unofficially acknowledged as a suicide attack. They were meant to blow up the Wraith's base, but they knew that they were facing unfavorable odds.

They made it into the base, however; Team Seven sneaked inside unnoticed and rigged the strange place to explode. Getting in was easy, getting out was hard. They managed to make it mostly outside the base before Naruto tripped and set off an alarm. Barely a second later, the three Chunnin were dashing outside, with no regard to subtlety. The rest of the strike force had attacked the moment the alarm went off and Team Seven found themselves within the thick of things outside the base.

And that lead Naruto to where he was now; red chakra overtaking his vision as the explosive tags finally went off. The Wraith were at least crippled; their major base destroyed by the strike force. Even the soldiers outside of the base, far enough away to escape the explosion didn't make it. They were either burned to a crisp by the unnatural chakra or else they were killed by the thing that emerged from that blast of chakra.

Naruto was dead, Sasuke was dead, the strike force was dead in the resulting blast, and the Wraith were well and truly dead. Only the Kyuubi was left. It looked at the destruction in pride and a hint of sorrow. It could already feel itself slipping away with nothing holding it to this world. It had been tied to the boy for so long, it couldn't survive much longer. The Kyuubi looked at the destruction and grinned.

There was a bright flash before the Kyuubi slowly faded away. Everything before the mountain was dead, but the Kyuubi wasn't.


	2. Chapter 1 : Rebirth

A/N: So, here's another chapter of KI! Don't worry, this chapter is a lot longer. Now, this part is about the beginning of the HP series, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll stick with this part of the timeline. I think I might write another chapter of their childhoods before moving onto Hogwarts, but I'll have to see. Anyway, thanks to all my readers and reviewers!! I love it. :D

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Chapter 1 : Rebirth

The Kyuubi put its all into the spell that destroyed everything in front of the mountain and after that there was darkness. The Kyuubi knew that it had succeeded, so it was content to wait. The demon fox waited through the darkness and then the babbling mind that woke up within the darkness. The babbling mind was not the mind of its boy, but it was very similar to the mind that the Kyuubi was forced to listen to during his first few months of confinement.

In a way, this was very similar to the first time he was confined within the hyper ninja. He was as weak as he was when he was first sealed away into a human host and he could do nothing but regain his strength. Even the babbling mind was familiar to him, though it was not the same mind as before. Still, this babbling mind was the mind of his current host: a human by the name of Harry Potter. So named by the two humans who took care of the boy, never knowing exactly who and what resided within their son.

The Kyuubi was not the only one to exist in the back of the babbling mind: one Naruto Uzumaki also slept in the back of the boy's mind. James and Lily Potter would have freaked out if they knew about the two extra presences within their son, but lucky for the Kyuubi, they did not know. Besides, it wasn't as though Naruto's presence was truly unnatural: the slumbering mind was not a highjacker of the babbling mind. No, the babbling mind that was Harry Potter and the slumbering mind of Naruto Uzumaki were the same person.

The parents of Harry James Potter would not have understood this fact;_ how two minds could be the same person_, they would have asked and the answer was simple. True, the babbling mind was not currently Naruto's mind: the babbling mind was a fresh slate and it had not gone through the experiences that Naruto's mind had gone through. This would not have worked if the hyper ninja had woken up within a baby's body. The Kyuubi knew its boy; being trapped within a helpless body once again would have driven the boy nuts. Therefore, a new mind had been necessary and that was how Harry Potter came to be. But, Harry Potter would not last very long and Naruto Uzumaki would wake up one day.

Not that it mattered. Sure, right now it was easy to see the differences between the two minds and their experiences would be different, but Harry Potter was Naruto Uzumaki. It was different bodies, different names, and different minds, but the same soul. Naruto would not kill Harry when he woke up, just as Harry did not kill Naruto when he came into existence. It would not be an abrupt switchover, the Kyuubi absently mused as it had nothing to do, the two minds would blend until there was only one mind. Naruto or Harry, it wouldn't matter—he would just be the Kyuubi's boy. This was the same with the others who were reborn within new bodies and minds.

--

Elsewhere, Hermione Jane Granger clutched a cloth book to her chest as she slept. Almost two years old, her bushy hair was quite long already. Her parents were bemused at the state of her hair: curly strands of brown mixed in with straight strands of pink hair. They got many disapproving looks from people on the streets, but they did not dye their daughter's hair. The pink hair was all natural, though they did not know exactly where it came from. They ignored the state of her hair, however, focusing on how proud they were at how interested in learning Hermione already was.

Draco Black Malfoy had puzzled both his mother and father. They both had fair blond hair, but their son had all of these black strands mixed in with his platinum blonde hair. It perplexed them, but they covered it up with a slight glamor charm and left it at that. _The boy's middle name definitely fit him_, Narcissa mused as she peered in at her child where he was being taken care of by a nanny. Black blood flowed through his veins just the same as Malfoy blood and all was right.

Despite her large family, Molly paid close attention to her last son. Even as her oldest child prepared for his first year at Hogwarts, her next two eldest complained about not going to Hogwarts, and her twins ran rampant around the house while her newborn child demanded her attention; she did not neglect Ronald Billius Weasley. She was worried about a lot of things, the Dark Lord and the possibility of an attack for one, but she was also a bit concerned about Ronald. In a house full of screaming kids, the young boy was often the quietest one in the house. Watching the twins interact with Ronald and drawing him out of his shell, eased her worry enough for a new one to take place: where was her wand?

--

Voldemort cared not about the color of his target's hair; the blond strands mixed in with Harry Potter's unruly black hair did not have anything to do with the Prophesy. He cared only about his mission and blond hair had nothing to do with it. His spy had only been able to hear part of this prophesy, but it was the most important part. The prophesy told him how he could become invincible; all he had to do was kill one small baby. It was pure chance that he chose the Potter baby over the Longbottom boy; his Potions Master used to know the female Potter and this would be a good way to cement his position within Voldemort's ranks. All he had to do was kill off the father and son and Severus was guaranteed to be his for forever.

The few blond strands of hair mixed in with black were never even noticed by Voldemort, even as he stood over the dead woman's body and spoke the words of the Unforgivable Killing Curse. This was it, his moment of glory: the death of one babe less than two years old and Voldemort would live forever. Or, at least, that was how it was supposed to be.

In reality, it took him months to narrow down which baby he was going after, and months to find out where both families lived, though he had caught a break with one of his new Death Eaters in finding out where his intended target lived. From there he just had to choose the day and move in for the kill.

Killing James Potter wasn't that hard at all; the man barely lasted long enough for them to have a proper duel. He then came upon Lily Potter, trying to escape with her son. He made her an offer, graciously allowing her more than one chance to consider it. Unfortunately, she was intent on saving the life of her child and he had to kill her. It didn't really bother him, though, as he paused to look at the child. The blond strands of hair weren't noticed, but the faint birthmarks on the boy's cheeks were. It really did look as though they were whiskers, but he put that out of his mind.

Whiskers were not a grand enough topic to think of when he was finally going to win the war. He then thought of the world that he was going to create by killing this one boy. This was the turning point, he aimed his want and spoke the dreaded words. His magic rushed out to kill the boy, but something unexpected happened. The next thing he knew, his world exploded in unnatural red fire.

--

The Kyuubi knew that something was going on; all of this fuss reminded him of when Konoha was under attack in the last life. Something big was happening and, for all that the adults tried to hide it from the fifteen month old, they were worried. The Kyuubi had a sense that this was life threatening even as he felt the spell that enveloped the house being cast. The adults relaxed at that point, though there were still whispered conversations and the babbling boy was kept close to them at all times.

The babbling boy was drowsing when it began. The Kyuubi was only partway paying attention to the world outside the babbling mind when he felt the spell fall. The Potters immediately went into action, the mother heading upstairs while the father stayed downstairs to fight. The Kyuubi was still not totally recovered from what happened at the bottom of the mountain, but he was able to surface just a little. Just enough to be able to pay attention to what was going on outside the boy's mind; not enough to take the boy over, but enough that the boy was calmer than how he would have been without the Kyuubi's presence.

The mother managed to get to the other end of the house before the dark wizard caught up with them. The Kyuubi growled when it realized exactly what the dark wizard was after: his boy. He heard the dark wizard's offer and was glad when the mother behaved as a mother truly would and gave up her life for her child. Of course, that now left young Harry Potter without a defense; or at least that was how it appeared. The Kyuubi sighed to itself and thought back to what one of the boys that used to hang out with his boy always said, "How troublesome."

The Kyuubi felt the spell that ended life approach his boy's body and he reacted as he always did against threats to his host's life. He had to take a more direct approach than he usually did, but he reached out with his chakra and reflected the life stealing spell back at the original caster. He followed that up with a surprise attack with his chakra, the flames quickly spreading from the dark wizard's body to the rest of the house. The dark wizard's soul fled the house, but the Kyuubi made certain that he could never come back to this body.

The red chakra turned the house into an inferno, but baby did not seem to be harmed by the raging fire. While everything around him burned, not one flame touched either Harry Potter or the blanket that was wrapped around him. All looked to be well with the boy, even with the jagged wound that was left on his forehead. Despite appearances, however, there was something wrong with the boy. His outside appearance showed no signs, but inside the boy's mind things were a wreck.

The Kyuubi didn't really have a cage any longer. He was still trapped within the boy's mind and body, but he did not have an actual seal that confined him to human flesh. Because of his actions, he was now tied to the boy more deeply with more spiritual bonds than the balance of both spiritual and physical energy. The chakra keeping him sealed was warped, but still effective in keeping him from escaping. He could move around more freely within the boy's mind, however.

He had kept his contact to the babbling mind to a minimum; only keeping an eye out on the world around the boy. New mind or not, this was still Naruto and that boy was a trouble magnet. Unfortunately, confronting the dark wizard meant that the Kyuubi had to move to the front of the mind and take control from the babbling mind. This created a shift in balance and that wasn't good. While a fire raged on in the physical world, something similar was happening within the boy's mind.

The babbling mind had been pushed to the very back of the mind, where the Kyuubi usually resided. After the Kyuubi determined that the dark wizard was gone and that he could control the demonic fire from the back of the boy's mind, the fox tried to move to the back of the mind. Things didn't go as smoothly as the demon fox hoped, however, and the babbling mind was put to sleep as Naruto's mind woke up.

In the brief moment of respite before the ninja really woke up, the Kyuubi yanked at his connection to the demon fire and put it out. He knew that Naruto would not be happy with him when he realized what had happened and he was right. At least this way he didn't have to worry about his host's body burning up within the fire; plus he had a feeling that he would need all of his chakra to defend against the angry ninja.

"Hey, Fox, what's going on? What happened to the battle?" Naruto asked as he looked around the mental landscape. They had ended up within the same sewer landscape as they always did, though there were a few changes. The seal and chains keeping the cage closed had disappeared, but the doors of the cage were still closed and the bars were now a glowing blue with flares of red traveling through them. The water leading up to the cage was now all dried up and there was a crib and a bed in the middle of the pathway. The bed was empty, but there was a black haired baby sleeping within the crib. Naruto crept closer to the crib and poked at the baby. "What's a baby doing in here?"

"What question would you like answered first?" the Kyuubi asked with half lidded eyes.

"What's going on with the battle? Those Wraths or Wraiths or something like that?" Naruto asked as he turned to look at the Kyuubi. "And what's up with your cage?"

The Kyuubi sighed at the added question. "How much of the fight do you remember?"

"We set up the explosive tags and made it out of the base and into a battle. They just kept coming and we were losing," Naruto mused before he froze and pinned the Kyuubi with a look. "Sasuke's dead; I died. What's going on?"

"You almost died. I couldn't have that so I put a stop to the Wraith." The Kyuubi gave its boy a prideful look. "I destroyed the whole valley."

"What? How?" Naruto shouted as he took a step towards the cage. "Does that mean that Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei?"

"It was necessary to kill everything within the valley, yes," the Kyuubi answered. "But we are still alive."

"You mean you killed everyone and kept me alive to live without my friends?" Naruto gave the Kyuubi a fierce look and stepped closer to the cage, clenching his hands into fists. The Kyuubi only laughed at him before giving him a smug look.

"You're friends are also alive, but we are not in Konaha," the Kyuubi answered.

"Are we in Suna then or one of the other hidden villages?" Naruto asked, scratching his head in puzzlement.

"We're not in that world at all, brat, I brought us into a new world," the Kyuubi finally revealed.

"A new world?" Naruto sputtered. "Take us back to Konaha!"

"It's not possible; you've been reborn here with a new body and everything. We belong in this world now and we can't go back to Konaha." The Kyuubi sniffed and shut its eyes.

"What do you mean a new body? What was wrong with my old body?" Naruto shouted, checking himself over. He frowned as he realized that he was the same as he always did: blond hair and all. He was even wearing his traditional orange, which he hadn't been wearing during the mission. "I look the same."

"That's what the baby is for," the Kyuubi snorted. "That's what you look like now."

"What?" Naruto yelled out, staring at the sleeping baby. "You turned me into a toddler?"

"I turned everyone into a toddler; we couldn't have gotten into this world otherwise," the Kyuubi corrected.

"But why couldn't you have transported me with my body, why do I have to be stuck as a little kid?" Naruto whined.

"Do you know how much chakra it took just to bring all of your souls over to this world and implant them to be born again?" the Kyuubi asked, finally opening its eyes. "I barely had enough energy to bring all of you here, let alone your bodies. So your young again and in a new world, tough luck; leave me alone."

"But what about my dream? What about becoming Hokage?" Naruto quietly asked.

"Find some other way to become Hokage." The Kyuubi flicked its ears at Naruto. "Just leave me alone to sleep for a while."

"But what am I supposed to do?" Naruto asked.

"Wake up, brat, and figure out your dream." The Kyuubi batted its paw at Naruto and he flew back. Naruto blinked and found himself to be really tiny. He focused only on moving his small limbs, trying to get used to how they moved. It took him a bit, but he finally got used to his small body enough to really look around. He got the shock of his life when he found that he was cradled in the arms of a giant, riding on a large vehicle high in the sky.


	3. Chapter 2 : Blood Wards

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long! I was planning one thing, but the characters had something else in mind and so I'm still not sure when exactly Harry/Naruto will get to Hogwarts. Oh well, there's some things that need to happen before Hogwarts anyway. I'm going to blend these two worlds together in a hopefully interesting way, but more about that at the bottom of the chapter. :D

I just have to say that I'm amazed at how well this story was received! I got 10 reviews for this chapter, 9 before the end of the first week. And almost 500 people have read the first chapter of KI; thanks to all of you!!

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Chapter 2 : Blood Wards

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Naruto started to flail when he saw how high up he was, but he settled down when he realized that he and the large man were not falling. Somehow they were flying through the air, stable on whatever it was that roared so loudly. Naruto was still suspicious about the whole thing, but he had to think of what the Kyuubi had told him.

He wasn't in his world anymore. He was dead and so were his friends. The Kyuubi said that they were also in this strange world, but he had no idea where they were. He was a toddler now, with black hair. Wasn't that strange? He looked kind of like Sasuke, a baby Sasuke, hehehe. Of course, he was still a baby, whether he looked like Sasuke or not.

Naruto frowned. Being a baby sucked; how was he supposed to take care of himself in this new world? He had no idea what this new world was like, though he did know one thing: Konoha didn't exist. He couldn't be Hokage, it just wasn't possible. The Fox had told him to find a new way to be Hokage, but how could he be Hokage without the village?

These thoughts preoccupied Naruto until he noticed that they were slowing down and landing somewhere. Naruto stayed silent and just watched as they coasted to a stop and the giant carried him away from their strange vehicle. It was dark and Naruto really couldn't see much, but he was able to spot a group of people standing in front of a house. There was an old man and woman and then there was a younger male, not much older than Naruto had been before he died. The younger man looked familiar, though Naruto couldn't see him clearly in the darkness. It wasn't until the young man spoke that Naruto recognized him and strained to reach him.

-

Iruka Umino leaned against the post that marked the end of the low brick wall. He had a suspicion as to who the tabby cat was, but he ignored her and she ignored him. She had eyes only for Dumbledore, but Iruka wasn't even waiting for the headmaster. In fact, he had no idea why he was really there. Sure, Dumbledore had requested that he be there and his aunt did live just a few blocks away, but Iruka was still figuring out why he was there. The Potters were dead and he should be celebrating the end of Voldemort, but instead he was standing in front of this civilian house.

He didn't say a word as Dumbledore finally arrived and spoke with McGonagall, confirming all of the rumors that flew around the wizarding world. The Potters were dead, but their kid was still alive and Voldemort appeared to be gone. Young Harry was staying at this house, which might explain why he was there; he was studying to be a teacher. But, Harry was just over a year old, so it wasn't as though Iruka could comfort the boy any more than one of the Professors.

There was a rumbling sound as a large man landed a flying motorcycle. Iruka had to blink at that and wonder why Sirius Black would lend Hagrid his prized bike. He focused back on the conversation as Hagrid got off the motorcycle and stepped toward the strange group.

"No problems, were there?" Dumbledore asked Hagrid.

"No sir – house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He was asleep until we were flyin' over Bristol, but he weren't any trouble."

Dumbledore and McGonagall bent over the bundle of blankets that Hagrid was carrying and Iruka leaned forward to catch a glimpse of the so called hero of the day. Iruka frowned as he saw the strands of bright blond hair mixed in with jet-black. He didn't even see the lightning shaped cut on the boy's forehead as he puzzled over the strange color. The bright color reminded him of someone from a long time ago; a person from a lifetime ago.

He missed another minute of conversation and was only brought back to reality by the howl as Hagrid said goodbye to the boy. He watched as Dumbledore walked to the front door of the house that they were in front of and bent down to lay the boy on the ground. Iruka's eyes widened as he realized what Dumbledore was about to do and he couldn't stop his outburst, "Professor Dumbledore."

The headmaster straightened up and turned towards his past student, still holding the baby. "Mister Umino?"

"You can't just leave him like that," Iruka exclaimed. "He's awake, what if he wanders off?"

"Young Harry has yet to walk or talk," McGonagall informed him and Iruka almost weakened. Still, he couldn't just let them leave the boy on the doorstep, not when the boy was awake and reaching towards him.

"He still knows how to move and he could fall down the steps." Iruka stepped towards the boy, wondering why the toddler was trying to reach him so frantically. "Besides, isn't it rude to just dump them on the Dursleys without speaking to them?"

"I am confident that Petunia and Vernon will take Young Harry in without any trouble, but you do raise some good points, Mister Umino. Still, I'm afraid that most of the staff are too busy to look after Harry at this time and I am reluctant to wake the Dursleys up at this time of night," Dumbledore replied, casting an apologetic look down to the toddler in his arms.

"I'll watch over him," Iruka said as he took another step forward. "Aunt Arabella lives just a few blocks away and she'll let me stay the night. I can come over in the morning and talk to the Dursleys while dropping Harry off."

"That is exactly why I have asked for you to be present," Dumbledore said, causing Iruka to blink in shock.

"You wanted me to take care of Harry?" Iruka asked, shooting Dumbledore a confused look.

"This isn't exactly how I had planned to ask you, I had planned to speak with you after dropping young Harry off, but things have changed." Dumbledore smiled as the child in his arms squirmed even more. Still, the older man kept a firm hold on the toddler as he continued to speak. "I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to keep an eye out on Harry and check on him when needed. Circumstances as they are, young Harry does deserve to be looked after by a witch or wizard, but any magic user moving into the area would be noticed by the Ministry, I'm afraid. Your aunt was able to move to this neighborhood without notice some time ago and it certainly wouldn't be too strange for her wizarding nephew to visit his aunt every once in a while."

"How often would you want me to check in with the boy?" Iruka asked as he looked towards the toddler.

"I'll leave that up to your discretion, that is, if you're willing to take the job," Dumbledore said.

Iruka sighed. "I'm going to become a teacher, so I guess that one more kid to look after wouldn't be that bad."

"Good, I'm glad you agree," Dumbledore said as he shifted the boy in his arms. "Now, I'm afraid that we must get back to Hogwarts, so I'll just leave young Harry in your capable hands."

Before Iruka could really process what was happening, he found himself holding the newly declared Boy-Who-Lived as the two Professors said their goodbyes and left him. Iruka sighed as he shifted his hold on the squirming boy and started walking down the street; at least Dumbledore had remembered to return the lights back to the streetlamps.

The walk back to his aunt's house didn't take much time and he soon set about to conjuring up a bottle. He wasn't the best at conjuring, so he didn't bother to try and create milk; instead using the real milk that his aunt kept for the cats. His aunt was a squib and he himself was just a step up from being one, too. Still, he had made it through Hogwarts, which meant that he was able to conjure up the few things that the toddler needed and his aunt didn't have.

His aunt Arabella was currently out of the house, cautiously staying away while Dumbledore dropped off Harry. She wouldn't be back until the next morning and Iruka hoped that she wouldn't wake the baby with her surprise when she returned. Though, there was half a chance that they would be gone before she came home. Iruka looked at Harry as he fed him and hoped that the Dursleys weren't as bad as Professor McGonagall seemed to think. He could still remember a bright, blond orphan being ignored by everyone on the street.

It was funny, but Harry sort of reminded Iruka of those hazy memories of another life. He couldn't quite pin down just exactly what it was about the young boy that did it, maybe those blond highlights that the brunet had? In any case, Iruka hoped that everything went the way that he hoped it would when he dropped Harry off at the Dursleys'.

He shook those thoughts away as Harry pushed the bottle away and smiled up at him. The toddler looked as though he was almost asleep and Iruka started slightly rocking the boy. "I-Iru-ka," the boy mumbled out and Iruka froze just as the boy's eyes slid closed.

"Strange," Iruka muttered to himself as he stared down at the boy. Dumbledore seemed quite confident that Harry couldn't talk and yet the boy was able to even pick up his name from the conversation. Iruka thought back to the boy squirming to reach him before he focused back on getting Harry ready for bed. Still, as Iruka was putting the toddler down on the transfigured crib he noticed something that he hadn't before; faint whiskers lined Harry's cheeks.

-

The next morning Iruka fed Harry breakfast and cleaned him up before getting him ready to go. He had kept a careful eye on the toddler after Harry had woken up in the morning, but he was behaving like any other toddler that Iruka had seen. Harry didn't seem to talk, as Dumbledore had said, though he did have a pretty extensive babble language to use. Iruka hadn't heard his name again, but he didn't really mind. It was just a curious incidence.

They managed to get out of the house before his aunt came home and he made the trip back to number four Privet Drive. It was still pretty early in the morning, but the car was already gone from the driveway. That meant that only Lily's sister was home with her child and Iruka wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Family members were easier to convince, but if what the rumors about Lily's sister were correct than it was possible that Iruka would have a hard time getting the family to take Harry.

There wasn't anything that Iruka could do about it other than just try, so Iruka went up to the door and rang the bell. The door was opened by a cheerful woman, though her smile soon turned to a frown when he recognized the boy in his arms.

"What do you want?" Petunia Dursley asked.

"My name's Iruka Umino and you obviously know that this is your nephew, Harry." Iruka shifted as the woman continued to frown at him. "May I come in to speak to you?"

Petunia's frown turned to a scowl, but she still stepped to the side to let him in. "Just so the neighbors don't talk about you or notice any of your _magic_."

"Thank you," Iruka said as he entered the house. Petunia closed the door right after he made it through and reluctantly led him over to their parlor. Dudley didn't even notice they were there, absorbed in a bright show on TV.

"I suppose you can put him down next to Dudley," Petunia said as she gestured towards the playpen that her son was in. She looked at Harry in concern. "He isn't going to hurt my boy or give him a pig's tail or something, is he?"

"There shouldn't be any trouble, ma'am, wizarding children typically don't show any accidental magic until they are a bit older," Iruka answered as he put Harry down next to the large toddler. Harry didn't even react to the boy, content to quietly gum one of the blocks that were in the playpen.

Petunia and Iruka sat down across from one another and they were silent as they watched the two kids settle down again. Finally, Petunia broke the silence in a quiet voice. "Something happened to my sister and her husband, didn't it?"

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Lily and James Potter died two days ago when the Dark wizard attacked their home. Harry managed to survive and the Dark wizard was defeated, but there is no one there to take care of young Harry," Iruka said, looking down at his hands the entire time.

Petunia looked away from the two boys in the playpen. "I thought something must have happened, otherwise it would have been her standing at the door with the boy."

"You are Harry's last relative and we were hoping that you would be willing to take him in," Iruka continued, looking up at Petunia.

"What about you?" Petunia asked as she looked over to him. "What about some other wizard, someone who could protect him and deal with his _magic_; shouldn't your kind take care of your own?"

"I don't think you know just how fragile our world is right now," Iruka quietly said, taking his turn to look away from the person across from him. "The Dark wizard and his followers have caused chaos in our world. Many other parents have been killed recently and we've been trying to find a place for each of these children to have a home. The fact is, there aren't many people who have the money and the situation to take on another child."

"I thought that Potter had some money at least," Petunia said.

"He did, but there's also another factor that makes us seek out another family for Harry. I told you that Harry survived and the Dark wizard was defeated, but what I haven't told you is that Harry was the one to defeat him." Iruka sighed as he turned towards the playpen.

Petunia shot a startled look over to the two boys. "He's just a baby, how could he be the one to defeat a Dark wizard?"

"We don't really know, although the Headmaster has a few theories. Still, Harry has become something of a celebrity. It was amazing that he was able to defeat the Dark Lord, but he did so by managing to survive a death curse that was thought to be impossible to block. He is a miracle and the rest of those in my world are determined to treat him so; for good or for worse." Iruka turned towards Petunia. "You're the one who could protect him from all of that and raise him to be a good person."

Petunia looked around as though looking for an escape before settling onto Iruka. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Iruka asked in surprise.

"Couldn't you take him in? You managed to take care of him so far," Petunia asked, leaning forward to give him a pleading look.

"I've really only taken care of Harry for the past night and I'm only nineteen; I can't take care of a toddler," Iruka fairly yelped as he tried to back away from Petunia.

The woman was determined not to give up, however. "You've made it out of that school, then, so you could protect him and you don't seem too concerned about his being a celebrity."

"Dumbledore said that you would be the best to take care of Harry and you're already a mother," Iruka said as he tried to get out of the trap that Petunia had set. He handed Petunia an envelope. "He said to give you this."

Petunia read the letter twice before backing down. "Fine, I'll take the boy in on one condition."

"What's that?" Iruka said as he relaxed.

"I'll take Harry in and raise him right if you'll move in to help take care of him." Petunia folded her arms and leaned back with a smug look.

Iruka looked at her in aghast, "What are you talking about?"

"This letter says that you're the one who will come around to check up on the boy. I'm not in a position where I can take care of two young boys so close in age, therefore I need a helper and you seem to be the best person to do that," Petunia pointed out.

"Would you really have that much trouble?" Iruka asked as he looked over to the two quiet boys.

"I didn't sign up to be the mother of two boys at once, thank you very much, I'm handling Dudley to the best of my abilities, but I just don't think I'll be able to handle adding Harry to the mix. Besides, getting this past my husband will be hard enough if I can't take care of both of them. Getting a helper makes the most sense and you are the best person for the job." Petunia glared at Iruka, letting him know that she would get her way whether he liked it or not.

"I'm going to be a teacher soon, I don't have the time to be a babysitter," Iruka almost wailed.

"I'm not asking for a babysitter, I'm sure that I can handle the boys for a couple of hours while you do your job, but I need someone for the evenings and the weekends and that will be you. Besides, by the way you talk I'm guessing that you don't have a job just yet." Petunia peered at Iruka. "You've just got out of that school, haven't you?"

"I just got out of Hogwarts, true, and I don't have a job just yet, but how am I supposed to get one when I'm babysitting all of the time?" Iruka asked.

"I told you that I was willing to let you get a job. There should be some extra schooling that you need to get through in order to be a teacher, which means that we can get through the worst few years before you have a full time job and by that time they may be in school themselves." Petunia nodded to herself. "We'd be willing to give you a room and meals for the times you are in house in exchange for you to watch over the two boys. How does that sound?"

"I really don't think that this is a good idea," Iruka weakly said when Petunia finally stopped talking. "What about your husband?"

"We have enough rooms to house both you and the boy. We'll have to paint over the guest bedroom and Vernon's sister won't be able to stay over any more, but, between you and me, that would be better for him anyway. Marge always gets him flustered and he never really enjoys her visits anyway. The toy room shall have to be cleared out a bit, but most of that stuff will actually work with Harry." Petunia pursed her lips as she turned towards her nephew to get a proper look at him. "Most of the things in the toy room are the things that Dudley's just recently outgrown and Harry is a month or two younger than my Dudley."

"That sounds good," Iruka said; feeling rather dazed.

"Good, then you agree to my condition?" Petunia smirked at him as she stood up and led him out of the room. She paused after opening the front door to look at Iruka. "We'll give you some time before you move in to get everything straightened up, you'll want to pick out a color and paint the room regardless, so I'll just let you go now. I'll take care of Harry until then, though I would appreciate it if you would check in every evening before you move in. Just remember that the boys will be going to bed earlier than an adult."

Petunia said her goodbyes before shoving the nineteen year old out of the door. Iruka stood there waiting on the front porch for a while longer before wandering back to his aunt's house. He had to talk to Dumbledore about this. It certainly was unexpected, but he would like to see someone else try and handle that stubborn woman.

--

A/N 2: Okay, I said that I would explain a bit more down at the bottom, so here it goes. One of my reviewers asked when Harry's and Naruto's minds were going to merge and this was what I said in reply: Harry will be in control for the younger years, up until about 3 for sure. Harry is kind of like a buffer for Naruto, making sure that being a toddler doesn't drive him nuts. This is mostly for Kyuubi's benefit, although this is how it is for the others. Naruto is the only one to wake up before he was meant to, though.

Basically, Harry is the same as Naruto, but is just there so that Naruto doesn't freak out from being a kid. Of course, the Kyuubi wasn't expecting Voldemort. Now, some of the Naruto characters will reappeared as canon Harry Potter characters, but some Naruto characters will show up in interesting ways. Iruka is an example of the second one and to my knowledge Arabella Figg does not have a nephew. However, if she did, his name would be Iruka. ^.^ And Petunia Dursley is just awesome and decided on her own that she would make Iruka move in with them. So, Harry/Naruto's life is going to be a bit different; of course, Iruka wormed his way into the story before Petunia, so he was already bound to have an interesting childhood. Let me know what you think! - Tatra


	4. Chapter 3 : The Flow of Life

A/N: Sorry this took so long! Since this is the beginning of the fic, I'm still struggling with getting it going. Writer's block is an insidious thing, but I think I have the universe mostly straightened out. And I'll fully admit that I ignored fanfiction for most of July in favor of original fiction. Zombies For the Win! Anyway, hopefully this chapter explains a few more things and hopefully it won't take a whole month to update this again.

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Chapter 3 : The Flow of Life

--

Iruka sighed as he glanced over to where the two boys were playing separately in the yard. Who would have thought that he would end up living in someone else's house and taking care of their kids for the past five years? He certainly had not expected that possibility when he agreed to look after Harry Potter. Still, he could see what Petunia had imagined all those years ago, the two boys were holy terrors. What was worse was that Dudley was determined to have the opposite opinion from Harry and vice versa. The two boys actually did get along with each other, which was surprising to those who witnessed one of their arguments, but they were determined to have differing opinions on everything.

He supposed it could have been worse, all in all; staying with the Dursleys was a pretty good deal. There hadn't been any teaching jobs in the wizarding world when he started living with the Dursleys; all of the purebloods had gotten their own personal tutors for their children, and the rest of the population was still recovering from the war. He had been able to get through his extra schoolings on being a teacher and get a job in the muggle world. Nursery really wasn't the area that he hoped to get into, but he was able to take care of Harry and Dudley while working, so he hadn't protested about his position.

When the boys were ready for Primary school, Iruka applied to the Surrey Primary school. Teaching Reception was still a lower age level than what he had hoped to teach, but he got stuck with his charges once again when they got to be too much of a handful in another class. Harry and Dudley were disappointed when they were assigned to him and they acted out even more. Iruka's calm way of handling them without killing them led to the school's administrator transferring him up a grade level with his own class.

Iruka had spent years looking after Harry and Dudley and now he was alone with them for the summer. The Dursleys had given him a week off before leaving on a trip to Morjaca to visit Vernon's sister. Neither of the two boys really liked the woman and Iruka agreed with them. Everyone had figured that it would be best for Iruka and the boys to remain home for the trip.

Of course, that led to the inevitable situation. Iruka sighed as he looked over to the two arguing boys. They weren't getting physical just yet, so Iruka remained on the porch and waited to see where the argument was going.

"Pirates are better than ninjas," Dudley was shouting.

"Nuhuh, ninjas are way better," Harry protested just as loud as Dudley had been.

"Pirates have swords," Dudley pointed out.

"So do ninjas and they even have other weapons like throwing stars and such," Harry countered.

"Pirates also have cannons and guns," Dudley said before mimicking the explosive nature of the two weapons.

"Ninjas don't need cannons and guns; they can sneak up and kill someone without making a sound." Harry mimicked the silent ninjas.

"Pirates use the noise so they can create terror in their victims and make them too scared to fight back. The Pirates can kill them just like a ninja can." Dudley nodded to himself.

"Weren't you listening? Ninjas don't need to use underhanded ways like pirates, terror is only known after death." Harry made a 'so there' noise.

"Well, pirates look cooler, they have hats and peg legs and hooks for hands." Dudley waved his arms in emphasis.

"Ninjas have cool gear, too. They have headbands and weapon pouches and face masks and other cool gear." Harry waved his arms as much as Dudley had, almost falling over from the force.

"Well, pirates have parrots; what kind of pets do ninjas have?" Dudley smugly crossed his arms.

"Ninjas do have animals. They use birds for messages and some of them train their dogs to fight with them and then there are the summons." Harry trailed off with that, leaving it as a mystery.

Dudley paused in his scoffing to peer at Harry with curiosity. "Summons?"

Unseen by the two boys, Iruka perked up and started to pay attention to what the two were actually saying. He couldn't remember everything about his past life, but that sparked a memory from that time.

"Summons are animals from another world that ninjas can summon with a jutsu after signing a contract," Harry absently lectured.

"Jutsus?" Dudley asked as he plopped down to the ground to listen to Harry.

Harry plopped down across from Dudley and nodded to himself. "Jutsus are one of the ways that a ninja can attack. It's almost like a spell and they let you do cool things like disguise yourself, switch your body with something else or even breath fire."

"So, ninjas are like magicians?" Dudley asked; frowning as he thought.

"Ninjas are way cooler and use a different kind of energy." Harry wrinkled his nose as he thought.

"Cool. I wonder if pirates could do something like that." Dudley grinned as he daydreamed about being a pirate with super powers.

"Harry," Iruka called out, not bothering to move off of the porch. "How did you know all of that about the ninjas?"

"From my dreams." Harry shrugged his shoulders as thought it weren't a big deal. "I dream all kinds of cool things, which is why I want to be a ninja when I grow up."

"Aren't you 'sposed to be a magician when you grow up?" Dudley asked as he came out of his daydream. He got up from the grass and wandered away from his cousin.

"I can do both," Harry protested as he followed Dudley back over to their abandoned toys.

"I bet you can't," Dudley taunted.

"I can." Harry pouted.

"How can you do both if you haven't learned anything?" Dudley asked.

"Right." Harry nodded, which confused Dudley as he had been expecting Harry to disagree. Harry didn't pay attention to his cousin's confusion, however, as he shouted to Iruka, "Iruka, can you teach me magic?"

"You're going to school when you turn eleven to learn that sort of a thing," Iruka called back.

"But that's forever from now," Harry whined.

"It's only a few years; you can last until then," Iruka replied, not bothered at all from the whining.

"Then teach me to be a ninja?" Harry switched tactics.

"Me too," Dudley shouted.

"I thought you wanted to be a pirate." Harry said to his cousin.

"I can do both," Dudley shot back.

"Okay. Iruka, teach us to be ninjas, please?" Harry and Dudley ran over to their caretaker to give him a pleading look.

Iruka lasted seven minutes against the look until he caved. "Okay, okay, but I have to talk to your parents first, so this isn't a definite yes."

"We're going to be ninjas, we're going to be ninjas," Harry and Dudley sang as they danced around the backyard.

Iruka sighed and fingered the scar across his nose as he wondered what exactly he had gotten himself into. He was used to this feeling, however, as it had been present in his life ever since he had arrived at the Dursleys' house to move in and found two crying babies as well as a flustered housewife. He still thought that it was a good thing that Petunia had forced him to move in after witnessing what it was like with him gone for a day. Luckily, things had gotten better and Petunia quickly learned how to handle the two boys with his help.

He wasn't sure exactly how he was going to teach both boys to be a ninja, though. He remembered some things about being a shinobi in his past life, but he wasn't sure if that was enough. Iruka frowned when he realized that he was thinking about teaching them to be a serious ninja. Still, he could teach them the ideals of shinobi life as well as the basics of taijutsu.

Now he just had to figure out what to do about teaching Harry magic. Iruka knew that the boy would not give up on the idea of learning magic until Iruka finally gave in and taught him. If Iruka didn't give in, Harry would just go behind his back and figure out something anyway.

Iruka frowned as he wondered exactly how the purebloods dealt with this issue. Some of the older pureblood families would already have tutors for their children; teaching them the basics of any education as well as the basics of magic. The younger pureblood families as well as some of the halfblooded families would leave all of the magical education to Hogwarts, but their children would still pick up some things. Then there were the halfblooded and the muggleborn families who wouldn't even know to tell their children about magic.

Harry, with the addition of Iruka in the household, was on the same level as a younger pureblood family, or more like a halfblooded family. Harry and Dudley knew about magic, Iruka wasn't about to hide its existence from them, but Iruka still didn't talk much about magic. The Dursleys didn't really like the idea of magic, though they put up with it since Iruka lived with them. In a way, the Dursleys really did remind him of some of the older pureblooded families.

Harry was famous in the wizarding world, even though that fame didn't touch him in the muggle world. Still, it would be expected that Harry would know enough about the wizarding world as any other pureblooded kid. Iruka didn't want Harry to be totally clueless when he reentered the wizarding world, but he wasn't sure just how much he should teach Harry. Most of the knowledge that was expected from the boy was basic wizarding culture that every kid absorbed from their environment.

Now that he thought about it, it might actually be a good thing for Harry to meet some of the kids who would end up in his year at Hogwarts. The boy was going to be attending the school with them for seven years, after all; it might be a good thing for the students to get to know one another before the school started. Yet, it wouldn't be practical to gather up every kid that was going to be in Harry's year. Compared to some other schools, Hogwarts really did have a small attendance, but forty to fifty kids was still a lot.

So, that meant that if he was going to go through with this, he would have to pick out maybe five to ten kids to meet with Harry. Maybe a mix of muggleborns, halfbloods, and lower ranked purebloods would be best. That way he wouldn't have to do that much teaching and he would just have to watch over the kids.

Iruka sighed as he realized that he had just mentally talked himself into holding a summer camp for a bunch of six year olds. It would be a lot of work to put together, but it might actually be worth it. He was sure that it would benefit the other kids besides Harry, so it was probably something worth doing. Now he just had to figure out how to get it started; maybe if he owled Dumbledore the headmaster would have some ideas for him.

Iruka stood up and stretched. "Why don't we head in and get some snacks?"

"Yeah," Harry and Dudley cheered as they raced towards the house. Iruka followed after them, already scripting the letter out in his head.

-

That night Harry had a hard time in getting to sleep. Iruka was up to something and he had promised to teach them how to be ninjas! These two thoughts made Harry bounce around his small bedroom before Iruka finally poked his head in and ordered him to go to bed. Harry had reluctantly gotten into bed and closed his eyes, but he still couldn't fall asleep out of anticipation. It wasn't until he started to go through his meditation exercises that he was finally able to drift off.

He opened his eyes to the sight of a sewer, although all of the brackish water had long since drained away. He grinned to himself and bounced down the concrete tunnels; heading straight to the large cage at the end of the tunnel system.

Harry had been making this journey every night ever since he could remember and he was an expert at navigating the tunnels. But then, he should be an expert given the fact that this was his mind. It didn't totally belong to him, but that still didn't matter. The three people who ruled the one mindscape were so connected that no one could say exactly who owned the mind.

The Kyuubi had been one of the first to mold the mindscape, although its large cage was a construct made by the seal that the Yondaime. The cage was from the Yondaime, but the sewer was all from the Kyuubi. Naruto's mind had only recently been formed, so it was easy for the fox demon to pollute it into the sewer system. Still, that was not to say that Naruto hadn't had any impact in the forming of his mental landscape.

The tunnels that branched out from the large cage room and all that was contained within the long lengths of the tunnels was Naruto's contribution and domain. The Kyuubi controlled the cage room, though he couldn't control the cage or the seal, and the overall image within the mindscape, but Naruto controlled everything else. The other rooms within the tunnels system hay be been set within a sewer, but some of them were as nice as any other house. In fact, there were even replications of Naruto's apartment and the Hokage's office within the tunnel systems.

Harry was something else completely. Naruto's mind, Kyuubi and all had essentially been copied into Harry's body. Harry was supposed to be just a cover for the first few years of the body's life, therefore the mind was set up just like Naruto's had been before he had died.

The Kyuubi had expected Harry to fade away at about three years or so of the body's life, but instead things started changing. The water in the sewer system dried up, leaving the concrete tunnels empty. Stuffed animals started popping up everywhere, even in the Kyuubi's cage and Harry continued to remain in the mind. He kept control of the body and took to visiting the mindscape every night in his dreams.

The Kyuubi was surprised that his calculations were not correct, but what surprised him the most was the patience that his previous host was showing. The Kyuubi had expected that Naruto would be freaking out over being stuck within their mindscape; that the brat would be complaining in front of the demon fox's cage every minute of every day, but the blond menace hadn't done that. The best that the Kyuubi could figure was that Naruto had fallen in love with Harry's home life. The Kyuubi knew that Harry didn't have the perfect life; the Dursleys only grudgingly loved Harry, but it was more than Naruto ever had when he was growing up. Plus, there was the fact that the reincarnation of one of the first people to ever care for Naruto was currently living in the Dursleys' household.

Harry had a decent life and though it wasn't full of the training that Naruto wanted to do, Naruto was happy enough to let Harry live his life. Besides, Naruto still had a hand in the way that Harry lived his life. Harry was always coming to Naruto for advice; their relationship was much like a sibling relationship. The two boys even looked to the Kyuubi as some sort of an uncle; something that the Kyuubi tried to discourage with no avail.

For the most part, Naruto spent his time working on building up the mindscape. It had taken a few years before the tunnels could fully branch out within Harry's brain, so it had taken Naruto a bit of time afterwards to get them all straightened out once again. After he had finished that project, Naruto moved on to creating new tunnels filled with Harry's experiences.

Naruto also had something else to distract him from not being in control of the body. While the Kyuubi was connected to the body's sensory system, where he could only observe what was going on in the real world; Naruto could project his mind out into the real world. Naruto could also take control of the body for short amounts of time, but the default mind in charge of the body was Harry. Still, Naruto found a way around that by focusing his chakra into something like a clone. It wasn't a true clone, as only Harry could see Naruto when he did the technique, but Naruto could interact with the real world better with the semi cloning technique than he could by just tapping into Harry's senses.

Naruto didn't do the cloning technique too often, as Harry would get strange looks and comments for talking to thin air. Still, Iruka had managed to convince the Dursleys that it was perfectly normal for a young boy to have an imaginary friend. Naruto hung out in the real world more often after that fact, especially after Dudley created his own imaginary friend named Chocolate.

The boys grew older, however, and imaginary friends faded away. Naruto cut back on pretending as though he was Harry's imaginary friend in order to keep the peace between Harry and the Dursleys and Harry took to visiting the mindscape every night. At first it took Harry a while to get used to the twists and turns of the tunnel system and Naruto would have to go and find him, but Harry did get used to the tunnels.

"Guess what, guys!" Harry shouted out as he rocketed into the large chamber that held the Kyuubi's cage. "I'm going to become a ninja!"

"Alright!" Naruto leaped up and punched the air.

--

One reviewer asked me another interesting question, so I decided to post the answer here. Aki6 asked whether the Kyuubi was aware that Pettigrew was the secret keeper and this was what I replied: The Kyuubi really wasn't paying that much attention to the outside world, to be honest. Or, at least not to Harry's parents and their situation. He knew that something was going on, but he really wasn't bothered by it until his host was about to be killed. So, the Kyuubi might know about Pettigrew, but he might not say anything until the 3rd year. Of course, Sirius might show up before then, ;D


	5. Chapter 4 : Secret Meetings

A/N: So, this chapter is finally finished! This is mostly a chapter that sets things up, but I hope it still is entertaining and also answers a few questions! Though, not all of them, because then where would the story be? Anyway, thank you to all of my readers and reviewers and enjoy this chapter! And, I really can't promise when this will update again, because I start school again on the 31st of August. But, I am hoping that it won't turn out to be a super long time between updates. I love updating.

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Chapter 4 : Secret Meetings.

-

Naruto knew the second that Harry had fallen asleep, as the Kyuubi closed its eyes and refused to acknowledge him. Naruto figured that the Kyuubi was still upset at Harry calling him 'Uncle Kyuubi,' even though that had been weeks ago. Since the Kyuubi was ignoring him, Naruto turned his back on the fox demon and focused on the sound of approaching footsteps.

Harry was grinning like a maniac, the same grin that appeared on Naruto's face at Harry's call when he entered the large chamber. "Guess what, guys! I'm going to become a ninja!"

"Alright!" Naruto leaped up and punched the air. Over the years he and Harry had tried to get Iruka to teach Harry how to fight, but it had never worked until now. Either Iruka had gotten tired of constantly being asked and caved, or else he had decided that Harry was old enough to learn. Naruto figured that it was probably a combination of the two, but he was too happy for Harry to really care.

"Iruka's going to ask my aunt and uncle if he can teach Dudley and me how to be ninjas and I bet that they'll say yes, because Dudley really wants to be a ninja. Well, a pirate is his first choice, but I think that ninjas are awesome," Harry rambled on.

"Of course ninjas are awesome; I'm a ninja and I'm awesome." Naruto grinned at Harry and struck a pose. "And we're going to be Hokage one day!"

"As soon as we figure out where Konoha is." Harry nodded in agreement.

"Yesh," Naruto exclaimed, using the mangled word that Harry had first come up with.

"We'll find it someday." Harry stared wistfully off into space with Naruto. Even though Harry hadn't seen Konoha with his own eyes, he could still imagine the village based on the descriptions that Naruto had given him. He just knew that one day they would find a village hidden in the leaves and that they would become the leader of that village.

"Of course we will," Naruto cried. He grinned at Harry as he settled down into a fighting stance. "Now, let's train so that we can shock Iruka-sensei with our awesome ninja skills."

"Yesh," Harry shouted as he got into his own fighting stance. The six year old based his fighting style off of Naruto's chaotic style. Some of it he learned from Naruto himself, but some of the moves he learned just from watching the blond he shared his mind with. It wasn't until Harry had turned four that Naruto had started teaching the black haired boy the basics of taijutsu, but the blond had continued to train ever since he had woken up inside Harry's mind.

Sparring within one's mind really didn't do much for actual physical body, but it did help some. For the most part it all came down to mental memorization; the mind remembered the sequence of moves even if the muscles didn't. Harry really hadn't bothered to practice his fighting outside of his mind, but he could still do a few basic things in real life without any trouble because of all of his training within his mind.

Harry grinned as he launched himself at Naruto, his fist clenched in order to punch his brother. "Iruka won't know what hit him!"

-

It had taken Iruka several phone calls to the Dursleys in order to get them to consent to his giving the boys taijutsu lessons. Petunia had rejected it outright, but Vernon had been intrigued by the idea, so Petunia agreed to think it over. Iruka told Petunia that it would just be the basics of fighting, and nothing that the soon to be seven year olds could really use to hurt people with. In fact, one of the main things that he planned to teach was about honor and when exactly to fight. Petunia finally agreed to the lessons once Iruka promised Petunia that none of the boys would be injured from the lessons.

Dumbledore replied to his owl soon after Iruka got Petunia to agree to the lessons. The headmaster offered to meet Iruka at the local park so that they could have a meeting without worrying about the two boys. The headmaster seemed to be very interested in seeing Harry once again after all of the years, so Iruka agreed to the meeting, hoping that seeing Harry would convince the headmaster to go along with his plan.

He started the taijutsu lessons the morning that he was scheduled to meet Dumbledore in the park. It had been a few days since he had confirmed that they would hold the lessons and the boys were bouncing off the walls, almost literally in Harry's case. Plus, Iruka hoped to tire the two boys out enough that he could take them to the park and run off the last of their steam. They would still be all hyped up from the lessons, but not hyper enough that Iruka had to keep a constant eye on them, so they would leave him and Dumbledore in peace during the meeting.

It took quite a few minutes before Iruka got Harry and Dudley settled down enough that they were paying part of their attention to his lecture. He knew that not all of what he was saying was getting through to the boys, but he figured that enough was getting through for one day. Besides, he would repeat the lecture the next lesson and the lesson after that and he wasn't teaching them anything harmful for the first lesson. In fact, after the lecture, Iruka just taught them how to properly form a fist before sending them out to run around in the yard.

Teaching was hard work, especially with two young boys, and Iruka took a few minutes to relax before herding the boys out to the park. Even though he knew that it wasn't going to be easy, Iruka was still happy to teach the boys something that had always interested him. Even after learning that he was a wizard, Iruka continued to be interested in martial arts. He kept up his practice all through Hogwarts*his schoolings, even when he transferred to Hogwarts for his last few years. He had gotten a bit rusty while living with the Dursleys, but not enough that he couldn't teach the boys properly.

After Iruka had cooled down, he gathered up the boys and they set off for the park. He let them loose as soon as they reached the play area and then headed over to a bench to wait for Dumbledore. He had just called out a warning to Dudley against bugging the people in the line for the slides when the Headmaster sat down next to him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Umino; would you like a sherbet lemon?" Dumbledore offered with a smile.

"Hello, Headmaster," Iruka replied, declining the offer with a shake of his head. If he accepted one then he would have to give some to the two boys and they already had enough sugar for the day. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

"It was no trouble at all, Mister Umino," Dumbledore reassured. "I must say I was curious when I received your letter, both as to what you wanted to discuss as well as how young Harry was doing."

"Harry's been doing well, both he and Dudley, Harry's cousin, have been growing up into fine young boys." Iruka didn't bother to point the two boys out; Harry was quite distinctive to all those who had known James Potter when he was alive and Dudley was currently playing with his cousin. "And that is part of what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Dumbledore asked, watching the two boys playing.

"Harry's been asking about magic recently; he's been asking about a lot of random things, but he almost always comes back to magic. He can't wait to go to Hogwarts," Iruka said.

"He's still got four years to go, am I right?" Dumbledore more stated than asked.

"That's right." Iruka nodded. "There are no problems with that, but I started thinking about early schoolings; you know what the pureblooded families are and Harry himself can be considered to be pureblood. He knows of the existence of magic, but nothing else."

"And you were hoping to change that?" Dumbledore asked, giving no indication of what he thought of that idea.

"I think it would help him in the future if he were taught about the world he is going to be a part of when he turns eleven," Iruka agreed.

"You do not need my permission for that, though I do believe that you must gain permission from Petunia Dursley before doing so?" Dumbledore said and Iruka flushed slightly in remembrance of the time when he announced to the Headmaster that he was moving in with the Dursleys. "So, why is it that you wanted to meet with me?"

"I am going to be teaching Harry about the Wizarding world, but I started thinking that it might be a good idea to introduce him to some of his peers. Not the whole year, of course, but just two or three kids to get to know before Hogwarts." Iruka paused before adding, "I'd be willing to teach those children about the Wizarding world at the same time, as well."

"A wonderful idea," Dumbledore said after thinking it over. "It might do young Neville good to meet with Harry and I believe that the Weasleys have a boy Harry's age. Minerva's been talking about a muggleborn girl who is going to be in the same year as those three boys, so we might want to choose another female to round out the numbers, so to speak. I'll speak with Minerva about this and get back to you, if you don't mind, Mister Umino?"

"That's fine; I was hoping that you would be able to handle approaching the parents and guardians about the whole thing, you would be a lot more credible than my asking them," Iruka answered.

"I'd be delighted; this is a marvelous idea." Dumbledore smiled at Iruka and then motioned to the messy haired boy who was now mock fighting with thin air. "Now, would you oblige an old man and tell him all about that young man out there?"

Iruka grinned and started expounding on a subject that he lived, breathed and ate with: the joys of watching after two young boys.

-

Harry grinned when he saw Naruto appear in front of him; Dudley had gone off to play with some of his friends and Harry was getting bored. He tagged Naruto's ghostly form and ran off towards the open field next to the playground, making sure to call to Iruka before he did so. He plopped down to the ground when he reached the edge of the field and Naruto crouched down next to him.

"So, who's the old man talking to Iruka-Sensei?" Naruto asked, both boys glancing over to the two men to take another look.

"I dunno. Iruka never said that he was going to see any old men while we were at the park." Harry squinted at the old man. "Maybe he's there looking after his own kids?"

"Grandkids, I would think." Naruto tilted his head. "He looks familiar."

"Really?" Harry frowned as he thought. "I can't remember him."

"Yosh, we have a mission," Naruto cheered. "Let's go spy on Iruka and the old man!"

"Yosh!" Harry shouted out, causing Iruka to glance over to check on him. Harry held up a stick and clambered up from the ground. He was sure that Iruka was giving him a warning look at this point and he could just imagine what Iruka was saying: "Don't play with sticks, Harry." Of course, Harry and Naruto couldn't hear any of this; the field was far enough away that the two boys couldn't quite hear Iruka.

Harry stared heading back to the playground in order to get Iruka's attention off of him. As soon as Iruka glanced over to check on Dudley, Harry dropped to the ground and started to crawl over to the park bench that Iruka and the old man were sitting on. He crawled out of their line of site, circling around to approach them from the back.

He managed to get about a foot away from the park bench undetected, but the old man suddenly looked over to them and chuckled. "Harry, is it?" the old man asked.

"How do you know my name?" Harry asked, frowning at the old man.

"I told him, Harry." Iruka sighed when he saw Harry crouched down behind their bench. "You've been spying on people again, haven't you?"

"No," Harry answered; technically he really didn't spy on the two since he was caught before he could. "Who is he?"

"This is Professor Dumbledore; he teaches at Hogwarts," Iruka introduced.

"Cool." Harry jumped to his feet and leaned against the back of the park bench. "What's he doing here at the park?"

"We were just talking," Iruka tried to dismiss the question.

"Are you playing wizards, Harry?" Dumbledore asked as his eyes locked on the stick that Harry was still absently holding.

Harry stared at the stick and glanced over at Naruto. "Nah, we were playing ninjas. This is my sword."

"I see." Dumbledore blinked in surprise. "But, you are looking forward to starting Hogwarts, right?"

"Yeah, think of all of the cool jutsus that I can learn," Harry cheered. "I want to learn how to summon toads!"

"Summon toads?" Dumbledore asked, still a bit startled at Harry's reactions.

"Toads are cool," Harry told Dumbledore. "So, am I going to school early? Cause I still wanna learn how to be a ninja."

"No, I'm afraid that there still will be a few years before you join us at Hogwarts, my boy." Dumbledore smiled at Harry.

"Why don't you go join Dudley?" Iruka suggested.

"But how will I know if you're talking about anything interesting if I'm not here?" Harry asked.

"The headmaster was just about to leave, actually, and we only have about a half an hour before we have to head back, too," Iruka answered.

"Okay, okay." Harry sighed. He dragged his feet as he made his way around the park bench. "I'll see you at Hogwarts, old man!"

Harry ran over to Dudley, tackling him and trying to pin him to the ground. Dudley was still larger than Harry, though, and he easily turned the situation around so that he was now pinning Harry to the ground. "Pirates rule," Dudley shouted out.

"Ninja sneak attack," Harry called out as he started to tickle his cousin.

"Get him, tickle his armpits," Naruto called out encouragement from the side. He jumped from foot to foot, looking as though he would like to join the two boys on the ground. He managed to stay out of it, however, which Harry was glad for. It was awful hard to see Dudley's armpits when they were being blocked by a figure that only he could see.

Iruka called out to them as soon as he spotted what they were doing and Harry and Dudley reluctantly separated. They did so just in time to see Dumbledore walk away from the park bench. Dudley frowned at the site. "Who's the old man who was talking to Iruka?"

"How would I know?" Harry asked, not willing to give up something that he knew and Dudley didn't.

"I saw you talking to them. Now, you better tell or I'll tell Iruka that you're still talking to your Fishcake buddy," Dudley threatened.

"His name's Naruto and I'm not still talking to him." Harry pouted. Naruto was not an imaginary friend, something that Harry was beginning to realize.

"So, tell me already," Dudley huffed in annoyance.

"His name's Dumblebore and he's the master of heads at the magic school I'm going to go to," Harry answered, glad that Dudley was letting the imaginary friend thing go.

"So why's he talking to Iruka?" Dudley asked. "Are you kicked out already?"

"Nah, I'm still going, but they wouldn't tell me what they were talking about," Harry answered. He scuffed his shoe into the dirt and pouted.

"We'll bug it out of Iruka eventually," Dudley decided.

"We're going to go home in about a half an hour, Iruka says," Harry imparted, even though he would rather just forget about that part of the conversation.

"Then we've got to go play on the swings," Dudley decided. He started running towards the swings. "Race you!"

"No fair!" Harry called out as he raced after Dudley.

Naruto lazily followed after them. He couldn't play on the swings, so he really had no reason to rush. He could only exist outside of Harry for a short distance away from the boy, as he was tied to Harry and to the Kyuubi, so he really wasn't worried about being left behind.

Harry was distracted with playing with his cousin, something that Naruto really couldn't blame him for, but it meant that there really wasn't a reason for him to be out like this. Still, the only other option would be to head back and listen to the Kyuubi grumble about everything. At least this way he couldn't hear the demon fox and he was able to get a glimpse of the outside world.

This world was so interesting, completely different than Konoha or any of the other hidden villages. Naruto couldn't help but wonder if they were even still in his world at all. Naruto had first thought that they had simply been reborn in the future, but he and Harry couldn't find anything about the ninja villages in any of the history books that they had looked in. So, he kind of thought that this wasn't the world that he had once lived in. But, then there was the fact that Iruka really hadn't been with them when the Kyuubi had brought them all there; so where did Iruka come from?

Iruka's calls broke through his thoughts; he was so used to being startled by Iruka's voice after a prank that he still reacted to the man's voice. Harry and Dudley were reluctantly heading over to Iruka, clearly the time had come for the three to head home. Naruto had been wandering around in circles around the swing set, but now he jogged towards the two boys. He faded away as soon as he reached Harry; going back to wandering around the tunnels in their shared mind.

-

A/N 2: I had another interesting question in my reviews, but I couldn't directly reply. Of course, this isn't much of a reply at all because I love my mysteries. Stefni asked if Harry was carrying a piece of Voldemort's soul and all I can say is that I shall figure that out later. I kind of have an idea in mind, but I'll have to see if anything new comes up later on.


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